Director Solutions Engineering, Key Accounts (West Coast)
$450k+Application analysis
Director Solutions Engineering, Key Accounts (West Coast) at Okta is a forward deployed identity & security role for engineers who want customer-facing technical work with real deployment ownership.
Reading this role
This Solutions / Sales Engineering role centers on technical discovery, demos, POCs, and helping buyers build internal consensus. Key signals from the listing: Senior scope.
About Okta
Okta deploys identity for workforce and customer use cases with complex enterprise integration requirements. The role is anchored in Bellevue, California, so expect on-site customer work in that region.
Signals in the listing
Stand out for Director Solutions Engineering, Key Accounts (West Coast)
- Lead your application with one paragraph tying Director Solutions Engineering, Key Accounts (West Coast) to a specific customer or deployment you owned — Okta hires for shipped outcomes, not tool lists.
- Bring a tight demo narrative: customer pain, live workflow, and measurable before/after — treat the interview like a compressed POC.
- Show how you qualify opportunities and say no to bad-fit pilots; Okta values technical judgment in customer-facing roles.
- This role is tied to Bellevue, California — mention willingness to work on-site with customers and any existing ties to that market (clients, partners, or domain knowledge).
- Compensation is in a senior band — emphasize staff-level scope: cross-team influence, architecture decisions, and customer exec communication.
Stand out at Okta
- Demonstrate SSO/SAML/OIDC literacy with a concrete example — Okta will probe for specifics, not buzzwords.
- Demonstrate integration debugging with a concrete example — Okta will probe for specifics, not buzzwords.
- Identity is detail-heavy — show you have untangled messy IdP/HRIS/app integration graphs before.
- Read recent engineering blog posts, product launches, and customer stories on okta.com — reference one explicitly in your outreach to show genuine interest.
Tailored from this listing’s title, company, and description. Always verify requirements on the company careers page before applying.
Role description
Secure Every Identity, from AI to Human Identity is the key to unlocking the potential of AI. Okta secures AI by building the trusted, neutral infrastructure that enables organizations to safely embrace this new era. This work requires a relentless drive to solve complex challenges with real-world stakes. We are looking for builders and owners who operate with speed and urgency and execute with excellence. This is an opportunity to do career-defining work. We're all in on this mission. If you are too, let's talk.
The Okta Key Accounts Solutions Engineering Team
The Okta Solutions Engineering team has the rare combination of technical savviness and business insight. We advise Okta's largest, most strategic customers on how to provide secure digital experiences to their employees, partners, and customers. As a team, we empathize with our customers to discern their true technical needs, ask detailed and clarifying questions, and present solutions that drive significant business outcomes.
The Director, Solution Engineering - Key Accounts Opportunity
Reporting into the Senior Director, AMER Presales Strategic and Key Accounts, this role will lead the Solutions Engineering team focused on Okta’s most strategic and highest-potential customers. As a leader, you will be adept at seeing ahead to future possibilities and translating them into breakthrough strategies. You will be results-focused, partnering closely with our Key Account sales leadership and the cross functional team to create and execute a plan of action to achieve our ambitious growth targets. You will also be a key leader in driving a standardized set of repeatable SE processes and artifacts designed to increase our technical win rate and drive multi-million dollar wins.
What you’ll be doing
Build and Lead a World-Class Team: You will be leading a team of five Principal+ Solutions Engineers with an expectation that the Key Accounts segment will grow to include a leadership team reporting to you. You will drive the full hiring process—from sourcing to closing—to attract top talent, and foster their professional growth through hands-on development plans. Drive Strategic Engagements: Champion a structured approach to strategic presales engagements, ensuring the consistent use of technical strategies, roadmaps, and playbooks to win large, complex deals. Drive Operational Excellence: Drive operational rigor across the Key Accounts SE organization. Establish and track KPIs to measure team success, and continuously refine processes and engagement models to optimize efficiency and impact. Serve as an Executive Sponsor: Actively work on strategic deals, providing executive sponsorship and proposing innovative strategies to ensure the success of opportunities. Build deep relationships with senior technical and executive decision-makers (CIOs/CISOs) at our customers, and act as a crucial feedback loop to Okta's Product and Engineering teams. Build Strategic Alliances: Partner closely with Sales Leadership to operationalize enterprise sales methodologies (e.g., MEDDPICC, Command of the Message). Aligning with Operations, Enablement, HR, and Finance to operationalize the strategy including workforce planning, skills development, and budget alignment, ensuring the team is resourced for success.
What you’ll bring to the role
Demonstrated success in a leadership capacity within a presales organization, selling to Fortune 50 companies. Experience building and leading geographically distributed teams of managers and a proven ability to develop talent to meet both their career goals and the organization’s goals. Proven experience building and scaling repeatable, strategic engagement models in a presales environment. Experience with and a proponent of Value and Business Outcome-based selling methodologies, including MEDDPICC and Command of the Message framework. Exceptional communication skills with the proven ability to influence C-level executives and navigate highly matrixed organizational structures. A strong vision for Okta’s market opportunity and how our customers can leverage Okta solutions to drive business outcomes. 7+ years of presales leadership experience. And extra credit if you have experience in any of the following! Bachelor of Science in Engineering, Science, or Mathematics, or equivalent experience. Deep expertise in the security product market, including competitive offerings and industry trends. #LI-Remote
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The OTE range for this position for candidates located in the San Francisco Bay area is between:
- $327,000—$450,000 USD
Below is the annual On Target Compensation (OTE) range for candidates located in California (excluding San Francisco Bay Area), Colorado, Illinois, New York and Washington. Your actual OTE, which is inclusive of base salary and incentive compensation, will depend on factors such as your skills, qualifications, experience, and work location. In addition, Okta offers equity (where applicable) and benefits, including health, dental and vision insurance, 401(k), flexible spending account, and paid leave (including PTO and parental leave) in accordance with our applicable plans and policies. To learn more about our Total Rewards program please visit: https://rewards.okta.com/us.
The annual OTE range for this position for candidates located in California (excluding San Francisco Bay Area), Colorado, Illinois, New York, and Washington is between:
- $292,000—$402,000 USD
The Okta Experience
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Developing Talent and Fostering Connection + Community We are intentional about connection. Our global community, spanning over 20 offices worldwide, is united by a drive to innovate. Your journey begins with an immersive, in-person onboarding experience designed to accelerate your impact and connect you to our mission and team from day one. Okta is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, ancestry, marital status, age, physical or mental disability, or status as a protected veteran. We also consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and convictions records, consistent with applicable laws. If reasonable accommodation is needed to complete any part of the job application, interview process, or onboarding please use this Form to request an accommodation. Notice for New York City Applicants & Employees: Okta may use Automated Employment Decision Tools (AEDT), as defined by New York City Local Law 144, that use artificial intelligence, machine learning, or other automated processes to assist in our recruitment and hiring process. In accordance with NYC Local Law 144, if you are an applicant or employee residing in New York City, please click here to view our full NYC AEDT Notice.